Thursday, March 31, 2011

You better strap on you're seatbelts because, these fabulous folks will knock you out of your seat :D

Let's review first shall we?

Brad + Mandy = LOVE

Okay, fabulous :D Let's move on.

Meet Mr. Brad & Mrs. Mandy:

They got married and we escaped out of the stuffy living room, outside into the clear, cool day for about 5-10 minutes. It was the fastest bride & groom portraits I have ever shot, but I think we got some of the most fabulous results!

Did I say fabulous?

It got a little bit windy after we went outside and poor Mandy's veil started to pull loose. So she pulled it out and Brad offered to wear it instead. Love it!

The awkward prom-pose - which when I pointed out what they were doing was just that, produced a fabulous natural laugh. LOVE it.

Remember what I said yesterday about Brad being that natural comic & Mandy loving to laugh? Just in case you didn't believe me, see below:

Ahhh - every bride loves her shoes. Wedding shoes are so important. People pay mega bucks for a pair of heels they'll wear one day for several hours. And comfort can sometimes take a back-seat.
Well not this past Saturday.
Comfort ruled and reigned and this is what the bride wore- FABULOUS:

Okay, moving on from the portraits, we slipped back inside for something to eat.
I love this shot I snagged of Brad's Mom, while Brad & Mandy were thanking everyone for coming.

So, it wasn't your traditional reception. There was no dancing or DJ or crazy lights. Just a simple meal with really good home-cooked food, oh and cake.

As Brad & Mandy were getting ready to cut the cake, Mandy realized they hadn't discussed this part of the day.
Oh. No.
So, she stopped him and made him pinky promise not to do anything bad with his piece of cake.

Okay, so they agreed, and we're back to cutting the cake:

And then, well, pinky-promises or no, someone had their toes crossed and both folks got cake up their noses. LOVE IT! haha

And, we'll end things off with a photo of the bride & groom and Brad's Mom - all doing the "Brad pose" :D

Ahh, it was such a fabulous wedding [I think I've used the word "fabulous about 104 times in this post] I was so blessed to be apart of it.
Brad & Mandy- enjoy your first week of being married folks- hugs to you both and D&I will see you soon !!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

And so often, their happiness is overshadowed by stress, worrying, time-crunching, stress, last minute details, bossy family, did I mention stress?

Deep down, I think most people are very happy on their wedding day, however, circumstances can cause people to want to pull their hair out and pray for the day to be over.

There was definitely no hair being pulled out last Saturday though.

And people were happy - genuinely, 11O% happy.

Derrick has known Brad for a long long time, and I got to know Brad, after D&I got married, through his semi-weekly comings over to our house. He was one of the only guests we entertained while we lived in our camper, and he continued his visits when we moved into our house!

The conversation when Brad came over, generally headed in one direction: Valley Forge Christian College. The college both Derrick & Brad attended.

Consequently, it is also the place where Brad met this bubbly girl named Amber.

Brad may not have finished his schooling at Valley Forge, but he definitely established a lot of relationships, one of which became a lifetime commitment this past Saturday.

They were planning a summer wedding, but when they realized that Brad's Mom was going to have to go into surgery this coming week and they weren't sure of the results, they decided to move things up - and fast.

The wedding came together beautifully. Things ran smooth and even the little details came together perfectly.

It was such a relaxed and amazing time.

They got married in Brad's Mom's house, with just a few friends and family present.

Even though D&I are good friends with Brad, we had never met Mandy before Thursday night [which was just an introduction-real-quick-meeting] As the photographer for the day though, I got to spend a lot of time with the bride and I walked away completely smitten.

Brad is a very funny guy. He has the personality of a stand-up comic on all the time. He loves to make people laugh.

And Mandy loves to laugh. She's a genuine sweetheart. They're super cute together and definitely fit together like puzzle pieces.

Perfect.

Mandy has such a servant's heart. It was her wedding day, yet instead of demanding to be waited on, she was constantly asking other people if she could help them.

And Brad loves to serve Mandy. As she was asking other people if she could do anything for them, he was waiting on her - hand and foot.

Perfect.

Brad loves Mandy.

And Mandy loves Brad.

Perfect.

Mandy got ready in Brad's Mom's house - and wow did she make a beautiful bride.

Mandy & the flower girl.
Their relationship was SO cute to see.

Like I said: she loves to laugh - and she laughed all day long :)

They had cleared the living room out for the wedding.

It was perfect - they set up chairs and lit candles, creating a very intimate atmosphere.

Ohh, and the groom.

I have never seen Brad in a mood other than his typical, comic, confident self.

But he was more nervous than a canary loose in a house full of cats.

When the time finally came, he attempted to compose himself, but his nerves soon turned into tears of happiness when he saw his bride.

The ceremony was simple and sweet. They shared vows, exchanged rings, and had communion.

And there you have it: Mr. & Mrs. Brad Crane :D

Annddd - I just realized how super long this post already is - so I'm going to chop this in half and do 2 posts. Part II coming tomorrow !! :D

Sunday, March 27, 2011

There is this blog called, "I Heart Faces" that I have been following for quite some time.

And they have weekly photo "challenges" that literally hundreds of people enter into.

I've always been completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of photos entered.

But, it's also challenged me to want to enter - because to be picked as one of the top photos in the bunch - wow.

So, here we go! First entry!

The theme this week is "Slice of Life" and when I read that, one photo instantly came to mind.

Right after we got our puppy, Abby, my family traveled up to visit us and meet her!

My baby sister fell in love with her and was constantly sitting on/hugging/smothering her.

And during one of those moments, I nabbed this shot:

I LOVE Ruby's facial expression and how calm my puppy is being.
It's just a peaceful shot - especially how her eyes are half closed? Just goes to prove that eyes being all the way open all the time isn't always the best thing :)

Friday, March 25, 2011

And while I was driving D to his job in the morning, he asked me what I planned on doing during the day.

I responded with my list of chores that needed done: clean up the kitchen, sweep, finish the laundry, clean both bathrooms, etc etc.

And his response: "It's your day off, why don't you just relax and do something that YOU want to do."

So that was my challenge.

After dropping him off, the sun started to come out a little bit, so I grabbed my camera and went out in search of a bridge that someone had told me was very picturesque.

And, I found a bridge.

But, I'm pretty sure it wasn't the right one. :)

Oh well.

I still liked it. And with the wet snow we had gotten the day before, the trees were still covered and it made for some pretty scenery.

I'd like to say, I spent the morning "location scouting" :D

And I found some pretty fun spots that I would love to use in some fun portraits/senior photos/families this summer !!

*hint hint*

Anyways, here's the bridge I found :)

Part of me said: ohh it'd be really cool to get someone ON that bridge and take their photos. They'd be really rad !!

And then I got the mental picture of me and whoever I'm taking photos of, running from a train that is coming across the bridge. And then I get a picture of us jumping off the bridge into the river so we wouldn't die.

Yeahhh, I think I'll stay off the bridge :P

Of course, the whole morning I was fighting for sunlight. And it was very hit or miss.

So, I went home [and yes, accomplished my whole list of chores - thank you very much] and of course, the afternoon came, the clouds rolled away, and the sun shone beautifully for the rest of the day.

Of course.

It was still a great day though.

In other news: I'm shooting a wedding tomorrow !! WOOHOO :D Second one of the year ! Can't wait - so come back tomorrow for a sneak peak :) :)

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

I find it pretty comical that on the memory card that's currently in my camera, I have photos of the last big snow storm we had - then photos of spring & me with my windows open - then photos of another big snow storm.

How does that work? You'd almost want to assume that my camera accidentally mixed up the photos. Like, there shouldn't be photos of my windows open sandwiched in between photos of snow - right?

Yeah, I think that's it.

Or maybe: somehow, I got myself into this weird time-warp thing that made me travel back in time - so when I woke up this morning, instead of it being March 23 like I thought, it's really February 25 [which I think is the last time we got a big snow]

What's really weird about it though - is everyone traveled back in time with me - and everyone else thinks it's March 23 too.

Yeah, I think that's it.

So, I took some photos, just in case today DOES end up to be some weird time-warp-thing :D

Check out how much snow piled up on top of my antenna topper :D And in case you don't know what my antenna topper is: it's Cinderella's Carriage :D

We have this huge lilac tree/bush/thing in our backyard that I cannot wait until it blooms - and it started to bud with all the beautiful warm & sunny weather we were having - I just hope that white fluffy stuff doesn't hurt it !!

My puppy is actually a blurr -- she can run really really fast :D

Did I ever mention I loove the tree in my neighbor's backyard? It's big and full and beautiful.

And if it was possible to steal it and plant it in MY backyard, I think I'd be tempted to :)